Today, students from Urban Promise learned the ins and outs of simple machines and mechanical advantage. Due to the recent hurricane we had brought our boats into the shop, and so our first demo was on boat moving techniques. We started with the simple lesson that 'many hands make light work' and moved on to using dolleys to show the power of using wheels. Moving into the museum we looked further into the canons on display and found that many simple machines are utilized to make the processes of aiming, stabilizing and moving the canons possible. There are wheels on each to allow them to roll, a wedge to aim up and down, a lever at the center point of the canon to help maintain stability while aiming, and hooks to attach a block and tackle for lifting.
Our next demonstration was in the use of a block and tackle to aid in lifting a 100 pound box. At first many of the students were apprehensive about their ability to lift the box, but by the end of the session everyone was lifting it with the help of a 4 to 1 block and tackle set up. This was certainly a lesson they won't forget.
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